Flexible magnetic core, antenna with flexible magnetic core and method for producing a flexible magnetic core

Abstract

 The flexible magnetic core (1) comprises parallel continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) embedded in a core body (2) made of the polymeric medium (3). The continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) extend from one end to another end of said core body (2), are spaced apart from each other and are electrically isolated from each other by the polymeric medium (3). The method for producing the flexible magnetic core (1) comprises embedding continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) into an uncured polymeric medium (3) by means of a continuous extrusion process, curing the polymeric medium (3) with the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) embedded therein to form a continuous core precursor (10), and cutting said continuous core precursor (10) into discrete magnetic cores (1).

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] This invention aims to solve the problem of the fragility of the magnetic cores of long inductive devices used in electronics either as chokes, inductors or LF antennae from 1 KHz to 13.56 MHz mostly used in RFID application in automotive with extensive use for keyless entry systems at 20 KHz, 125 KHz and 134 KHz, extended but not limited to the applications for NFC at frequencies in the range of 13.56 MHz.

[0002] For this purpose in a first aspect the invention provides a flexible magnetic core that can withstand impacts, flexion and torsion with deformation but without breaking the core thus keeping the magnetic properties when the flexion or torsion efforts disappear.

[0003] The flexible magnetic core of the invention can also be used for inducers and electric transformers for energy storage and conversion or filtering.

[0004] The flexible magnetic core of this invention comprises elongated ferromagnetic elements embedded in polymeric medium, and more particularly continuous ferromagnetic wires embedded in the polymeric medium and is intended to replace a very fragile core of ferrite that is presently very common in the field.

[0005] A second aspect of the invention relates to an antenna comprising at least one winding wound about a flexible magnetic core according to the first aspect of the invention.

[0006] A third aspect of the invention relates to a method for producing a flexible magnetic core as that of the first aspect of the invention.

Background of the Invention

[0007] Currently, the main use of long ferrite cores is inner antennae in the fields of 10 KHz to 500 KHz. The effective permeability of a cylindrical core is proportional the specific magnetic permeability of the material or µ_i times a form factor that is the L/D ratio, where L is the length and D is the diameter of the rod. This physical principle means that for the same ferromagnetic material, and antenna or inductor, has a larger inductance with product is longer and thinner, i.e. the L/D ratio is higher.

[0008] This principle led the designers to used ferrite cores with high L/D ratios that were wound with copper wire and then, protect the whole inductor by injecting it in a polymeric matrix or by casting it in a resin or, ultimately by providing an external protection in the form or a hard shell or box.

[0009] This intrinsically fragile solution has been so far used in LF emitter antennas in Keyless entry systems for automotive as well as in induction soldering cannons and RF rod antenna for applications like atomic clock receivers among others.

[0010] The Young module (indicator of the elasticity of the ferrite) is very low, it means that ferrites are rigid and behave like glass or ceramic so they have fundamentally no deformation before cracking and braking.

[0011] A crack in a ferrite inside an antenna or inductor produces a high reluctance magnetic path of the field thus reducing the effective permeability and dropping the inductance, that if the application is a resonant tank for an antenna, leads to a higher self-resonant frequency of the tank that makes the circuit operate out of specifications or even do not operate at all as the energy transmitted to or by a not tuned tank can be too low to let the circuit operate as a signal transceiver.

[0012] To solve the above problems stacking foils of metallic soft magnetic materials have been used in this technical field These materials can be of several crystalline structures, including nano crystalline or amorphous alloys of Fe and other combinations of atomic Ni, Co , Cr or Mo or its multiple oxides. These solutions, known as laminations stacks or simply stacks are known for decades and have been massively used in electric 50 Hz and 60 Hz transformers among other applications. Metallic lamellae or bands in the form of stacks usually solve the problem of fragility but nevertheless, as they exhibit low ohmic resistivity, they need to be isolated from each other by isolating foils or layers of polymers, enamel, varnishes, and papers. A bendable antenna core is disclosed in US2006022886A1 and US2009265916A1 discloses an antenna core comprising a flexible stack of a plurality of oblong soft-magnetic strips consisting of an amorphous or nanocrystalline alloy. WO2012101034A1 discloses an antenna core being embodied in strip-shaped fashion and consisting of a plurality of metal layers composed of a nanocrystalline or amorphous, soft-magnetic metal alloy. In this case, the strip-shaped antenna core has a structure which extends along the transverse direction of the strip-shaped antenna core and which is elevated in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the strip-shaped antenna core

[0013] EP0554581B1 discloses a flexible magnetic core and a method for producing the same, the latter comprising mixing in a vacuum a powder of small particles of soft magnetic material with a synthetic resin, and then curing of the resin in the form of a block applying during said curing a strong magnetic field thereto such that the particles form mutually insulated, longitudinally stretched, persistent chains parallel to the applied magnetic field. The mixing is performed in a vacuum

[0014] The chains generated with such a method are provided by discrete powder particles with irregular cross-sections, the powder small particles having high probabilities of aggregating to each other between different chains unless very strong disaggregating agents and strong dispersant agents are used, as the mixture is in a very low viscosity form, this imposing severe complexity and cost. If chains of particles contact each other, there appear losses of charges (Foucault losses). And EP0554581B1 only provides as example of said soft magnetic material soft iron which is not suitable to operate to frequencies over 1 KHz.

Description of the Invention

[0015] It is an object of the present invention to offer an alternative to the prior state of the art, with the purpose of providing a flexible magnetic core and a method for producing the same, which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior state of the art proposals.

[0016] To that end, according to a first aspect the present invention provides a flexible magnetic core comprising a ferromagnetic material arranged to form parallel magnetic paths within a cured polymeric medium, with said parallel magnetic paths being electrically isolated from each other by said polymeric medium.

[0017] Contrary to the known flexible magnetic cores, particularly contrary to the one disclosed in the EP 0554581 B1, where the ferromagnetic material forming the parallel magnetic paths comprises chains of aligned discrete small magnetic particles, in the flexible magnetic core according the first aspect of the present invention, the ferromagnetic material forming the parallel magnetic paths comprises parallel continuous ferromagnetic wires embedded in a core body made of the polymeric medium, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires are spaced apart from each other, and extend from one end to another of the core body.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, each of said continuous ferromagnetic wires has a constant cross section along its whole length. Said constant cross section is for example a circular or polygonal cross section having an area preferably in the range of 0.008 to 0.8 square millimetres.

[0019] In one embodiment, the flexible magnetic core comprising eight or more continuous ferromagnetic wires and the continuous ferromagnetic wires are preferably arranged in several equidistant parallel geometric planes, with the particularity that the continuous ferromagnetic wires arranged in one of the geometric planes are staggered with respect to the ferromagnetic wires arranged in another adjacent parallel geometric plane.

[0020] The continuous ferromagnetic wires are made of a very high permeability ferromagnetic material, such as, for example, an alloy of iron and one or more of Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum, and Manganese.

[0021] In one embodiment, the continuous ferromagnetic wires are bare ferromagnetic wires, while in another alternative embodiment the continuous ferromagnetic wires are wires coated by respective electrically isolating sheaths.

[0022] Preferably, said polymeric medium forming the core body is a polymeric matrix and in one embodiment the core body has a prismatic outer shape, such as a parallelepiped shape, although other shapes, such as a cylindrical shape, are envisaged.

[0023] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an antenna is provided comprising at least one winding wound about a flexible magnetic core according to the first aspect of the present invention.

[0024] According to a third aspect, the present invention provides a method for producing a flexible magnetic core, wherein said flexible magnetic core comprises continuous ferromagnetic wires embedded in a core body made of a polymeric medium, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires are spaced apart from each other, and extend from one end to another of the core body.

[0025] In contrast with the known methods, particularly regarding the one proposed by EP0554581B1 where small magnetic particles are embedded in the polymeric medium, the method according to the third aspect of the present invention comprises embedding continuous ferromagnetic wires into an uncured polymeric medium by means of a continuous extrusion process, curing the polymeric medium with the continuous ferromagnetic wires embedded therein to form a continuous core precursor, and cutting said continuous core precursor into discrete magnetic cores.

[0026] For a preferred embodiment, the method of the third aspect of the invention comprises producing the flexible magnetic core by means of a continuous extrusion process comprising passing the continuous ferromagnetic wires together with a polymeric medium casting through an extrusion chamber.

[0027] According to an embodiment, the method comprises aligning and ordering the continuous ferromagnetic wires previously to their pass through said extrusion chamber, by, for an implementation o said embodiment, making them pass through several holes arranged according to a requested order in a wire feed-in plate.

[0028] The method comprises, according to an embodiment, making the continuous ferromagnetic wires pass through said holes of the wire feed-in plate and through the extrusion chamber by pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires while pushing the polymeric medium, in viscous form, into the extrusion chamber and towards the extrusion chamber, and the through-holes of the holes of the wire feed-in plate being configured and arranged to avoid the polymeric medium passing there through.

[0029] In one embodiment, said continuous extrusion process comprises passing the continuous ferromagnetic wires through an extrusion chamber while the polymeric medium is extruded through said extrusion chamber.

[0030] Preferably, the continuous ferromagnetic wires are kept aligned with the extrusion chamber and arranged according to a predetermined pattern while passing through said extrusion chamber by making the continuous ferromagnetic wires pass through several holes arranged according to said predetermined pattern in a wire feed-in plate located at one end of the extrusion chamber opposite to an outlet end thereof.

[0031] The continuous ferromagnetic wires are made to pass through said holes of the wire feed-in plate and through the extrusion chamber towards said outlet end by pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires with the uncured polymeric medium, which is injected in viscous form into the extrusion chamber from a polymer feed-in passage located in a side wall of the extrusion chamber. Preferably, the holes of the wire feed-in plate are configured and arranged to fit to the continuous ferromagnetic wires and to avoid the polymeric medium passing back therethrough.

[0032] In one embodiment, the former ends of the continuous ferromagnetic wires are connected to a plunger slidably arranged within the extrusion chamber and located downstream of said polymer feed-in passage and upstream of the wire feed-in plate. The continuous ferromagnetic wires are connected to the plunger said plunger at positions thereof arranged according to said predetermined pattern, so that the plunger keeps the continuous ferromagnetic wires aligned with the extrusion chamber and arranged according to the predetermined pattern while pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires along the extrusion chamber at the start of an extrusion operation. The plunger, once it has come out of the extrusion chamber, is then eliminated by cutting a former end of the continuous core precursor.

[0033] The continuous core precursor is cooled by means of a cooling device outside the extrusion chamber before cutting. Optionally, the continuous core precursor is pooled by a pooling device located downstream of the cooling device before cutting. Preferably, each of the continuous ferromagnetic wires is pushed by a pushing device located upstream of the wire feed-in plate.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0034] The previous and other advantages and features will be better understood from the following detailed description of embodiments, with reference to the attached drawing, which must be considered in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a flexible magnetic core according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a coil for an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention, including the flexible magnetic core; and

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are side sectional views illustrating successive stages of a possible method for producing continuously a flexible magnetic core according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

[0035] Referring first to Fig. 1, a flexible magnetic core 1 according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is shown. The flexible magnetic core 1 comprises parallel continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 embedded in a core body 2 made of a polymeric medium 3, such as a polymeric matrix. Said continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are spaced apart from each other and extend from one end to another of said core body 2, so that the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are electrically isolated from each other by the polymeric medium 3.

[0036] Each of said continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 has a constant cross section 5 along its whole length, wherein said constant cross section is a circular cross section having an area in the range of 0.008 to 0.8 square millimetres. Alternatively, the constant cross section is a polygonal cross section having an area within the same range.

[0037] The flexible magnetic core 1 shown in Fig. 1 comprises twenty continuous ferromagnetic wires 4, although at least eight continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 per core is considered enough.

[0038] In the disclosed embodiment the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are arranged within the core body 2 made of the polymeric medium 3 in several equidistant parallel geometric planes, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 arranged in one geometric plane are staggered with respect to the ferromagnetic wires 4 arranged in another adjacent parallel geometric plane. This provides regular and uniform distances between the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4.

[0039] The continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are made of a very high permeability (values are in the range from 22,5 to 438 µm/mH•m^-1) ferromagnetic material, such as, for example, an alloy of Nickel, Cobalt and Manganese. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are bare ferromagnetic wires. However, in an alternative embodiment (not shown) the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are wires coated by respective electrically isolating sheaths. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the core body 2 has a prismatic or parallelepiped outer shape. However, in an alternative embodiment (not shown) the core body 2 has a cylindrical outer shape.

[0040] Referring now to Fig. 2, a coil for an antenna 7 according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention is shown. The antenna coil 7 comprises a flexible magnetic core 1 as the one described above with reference to Fig. 1 and at least one winding 21 wound about the flexible magnetic core 1. The winding 21 is made of a conductor material and is either coated with an isolating layer or the the winding 21 of the coil 7 are spaced apart from each other in order to avoid contact therebetween. When an electric current is applied to the winding 21 a magnetic flow is induced along the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 in the flexible magnetic core 1.

[0041] Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate a method for producing a flexible magnetic core 1 according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention.

[0042] In a first stage shown is Fig. 3, the method comprises making a plurality continuous ferromagnetic wires 4, which are unwound from respective reels 22, pass through several holes 9 arranged according to a predetermined pattern in a wire feed-in plate 8 located at one end of an extrusion chamber 20. The extrusion chamber 20 has an elongated straight stretch having a constant cross-section with an outlet end 16 opposite to the wire feed-in plate 8. Each of the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 is pushed into the extrusion chamber 20 by a corresponding pushing device 19 located upstream of the wire feed-in plate 8.

[0043] A polymer feed-in passage 17 is located in a side wall of the extrusion chamber 20. Said polymer feed-in passage 17 is connected to an outlet of a hopper 23 with controlled heating, containing uncured polymeric medium 3 in a fused state and a worm 24 in the hopper 23 is arranged to thrust the uncured fused polymeric medium 3 into the extrusion chamber 20 (thermally isolated) through polymer feed-in passage 17.

[0044] At the start of an extrusion operation, the former ends of the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are connected to a plunger 18 slidably arranged within the extrusion chamber 20 and located downstream of said polymer feed-in passage 17. The former ends of the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are connected to the plunger 18 at locations thereof arranged according to same predetermined pattern as the holes 9 in the wire feed-in plate 8.

[0045] Thus, the wire feed-in plate 8 and the plunger 18 keep the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 aligned with the extrusion chamber 20 and arranged according to the predetermined pattern while the plunger 8 pulls the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 along the extrusion chamber 20 under the pressure exerted by the uncured polymeric medium 3 being injected in viscous form through the polymer feed-in passage 17 into the extrusion chamber 20 between the feed-in plate 8 and the plunger 18, with the uncured polymeric medium 3 embedding the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4.

[0046] By continuously feeding the uncured polymeric medium 3 into the extrusion chamber, the plunger 18 is moved to the outlet end 16 pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 so that a continuous core precursor 10 begins to be formed. The holes 9 of the wire feed-in plate 8 are configured and arranged to fit to the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 and to avoid the polymeric medium 3 passing back therethrough.

[0047] Fig. 4 illustrates a second stage of the method in which the former end of the continuous core precursor 10 with the plunger 18 attached thereto has come out the extrusion chamber 20 through the outlet end 16 and the continuous core precursor 10 is cooled 1 by means of a cooling device 13 located outside the extrusion chamber adjacent to the outlet end 16. In the illustrated embodiment, the cooling device 13 comprises a coiled duct along which a cooled heat transfer fluid flows. However, the cooling device 13 can alternatively comprise other cooling means.

[0048] The continuous core precursor 10 is additionally pooled by a pooling device 15 located outside the extrusion chamber 20 downstream of the cooling device 13 and adjacent thereto. In the Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the polymeric medium 3 is shown shaded by parallel hatch lines representing the level of curing, with distances between the parallel hatch lines being narrower as the polymeric medium 3 becomes more and more cooled and solidified.

[0049] Fig. 5 illustrates a third stage of the method in which the former end of the continuous core precursor 10 with the plunger 18 attached thereto has been passed through a cutting device 24. In the illustrated embodiment, the cutting device 24 comprises an anvil 25 having an opening through which the continuous core precursor 10 passes, and a cutting blade 26 actuated to severe the continuous core precursor 10 adjacent the anvil 25. However, the cutting device 24 can alternatively comprise other cutting means such a laser or a water jet cutting.

[0050] Fig. 6 illustrates a fourth and last stage of the method in which the former end of the continuous core precursor 10 with the plunger 18 attached thereto has been severed from the continuous core precursor 10 by means of the cutting device 24 and then successive flexible magnetic cores 1 are formed by repeatedly cutting the continuous core precursor 10 with the cutting device 24 as the continuous core precursor 10 comes out the extrusion chamber 20. The former end of the continuous core precursor 10 with the plunger 18 attached thereto is rejected. The obtained subsequent flexible magnetic cores 1 are as described above with reference to Fig. 1.

[0051] Thus, the method of the present invention comprises embedding continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 into an uncured and fluid (fused) polymeric medium 3 by means of a continuous extrusion process, curing the polymeric medium 3 with the continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 embedded therein to form a continuous core precursor 10, and cutting said continuous core precursor 10 into discrete magnetic cores 1. The continuous ferromagnetic wires 4 are through an extrusion chamber while the polymeric medium 3 is extruded through said extrusion chamber 20.

[0052] The present invention proposes a core that has the same effectively cross sectional area than the laminations stack that, as claimed in the US2006022886A1 and US2009265916A1 patents can be as much as 80% smaller due to the higher flux density B that these alloys can withstand. Typically ferrite Bsat is 0.3 T while Ni based alloys can withstand 5fold Bsat up to 1.5T and other materials like Permalloy 79Ni4MoFe can be 2xBsat as per below table:

Table 1

Chemical	Grade	Saturation induction Bs/T	Rs Br/Bm	CurieTemp Tc/°C	Coercive force Hc/A•m-1	Initial Permeability mH•m-1	Max Permeability µm/mH•m-1	Resistivity µΩ•cm
46NiFe		≥1.50	0.75	400	≤12	2.5-4.5	22.5-45	45
50NiFe		≥1.50	0.72	500	≤8.8	2.8-5.9	31-65	45
65Ni2.5MoFe		≥1.20	≥0.9	530	≤6.4	-	200-438	45
76Ni5Cu2CrFe		≥0.75	-	400	≤4.8	18.8-31.3	75-225	55
77Ni4Mo5CuFe		≥0.60	-	350	≤2.0	37.5-75.0	175-312	55
79Ni4MoFe	79 Permalloy	≥0.75	-	450	≤4.8	15-32	87.5-275	55
80Ni3CrFe		≥0.65	-	330	≤4.8	17.5-44	75-200	62
80Ni5MoFe		≥0.70	-	400	≤4.8	20-75	87.5-325	56
81Ni6MoFe		≥0.60	-	-	≤4.0	12.5-62.5	100-250	60

[0053] For a given current I the magnetic field intensity H is proportional to the cross sectional area S of the core and the number of turns. The maximum H is limited by saturation Bsat. As Bsat is from 2 folds to 5 folds larger for the same H, cross sectional area of the core S can be reduced proportionally or, if kept the same, less winding turns are needed for the same magnetic induction thus helping to have either smaller antennae or with less windings.

Claims

1. Flexible magnetic core (1), comprising a ferromagnetic material arranged to form parallel magnetic paths within a cured polymeric medium (3), said parallel magnetic paths being electrically isolated from each other by said polymeric medium (3), characterized in that said ferromagnetic material comprises parallel continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) embedded in a core body (2) made of the polymeric medium (3), wherein said continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are spaced apart from each other and extend from one end to another end of said core body (2).

2. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to claim 1, wherein each of said continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) has a constant cross section (5) along its whole length, said constant cross section being a circular or polygonal cross section having an area in the range of 0.008 to 0.8 square millimetres.

3. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to any of the previous claims, comprising at least eight continuous ferromagnetic wires (4).

4. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to any of the previous claims, wherein said continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are arranged in several equidistant parallel geometric planes, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) arranged in one geometric plane are staggered with respect to the ferromagnetic wires (4) arranged in another adjacent parallel geometric plane.

5. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to any of the previous claims, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are made of a ferromagnetic material having a very high permeability in the range of 22,5 to 438 µm/mH•m^-1.

6. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to claim 5, wherein said very high permeability ferromagnetic material is an alloy of iron and one or more of Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum, and Manganese.

7. The flexible magnetic core (1) according to any of the previous claims, wherein the core body (2) has a prismatic or cylindrical outer shape.

8. An antenna (7), comprising a flexible magnetic core (1) according to any of the previous claims and at least one winding (21) wound about the flexible magnetic core (1).

9. A method for producing a flexible magnetic core (1), the method comprising embedding continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) into an uncured polymeric medium (3) by means of a continuous extrusion process, curing the polymeric medium (3) with the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) embedded therein to form a continuous core precursor (10), and cutting said continuous core precursor (10) into discrete magnetic cores (1).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said continuous extrusion process comprises passing the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) through an extrusion chamber while the polymeric medium (3) is extruded through said extrusion chamber (20).

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are kept aligned with the extrusion chamber (20) and arranged according to a predetermined pattern while passing through said extrusion chamber (20) by making the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) pass through several holes (9) arranged according to said predetermined pattern in a wire feed-in plate (8) located at one end of the extrusion chamber (20) opposite to an outlet end (16) thereof.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are made to pass through said holes (9) of the wire feed-in plate (8) and through the extrusion chamber (20) towards said outlet end (16) by pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) with the uncured polymeric medium (3) being injected in viscous form into the extrusion chamber (20) from a polymer feed-in passage (17) located in a side wall of the extrusion chamber (20).

13. The method according to claim 11 to 12, wherein former ends of the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) are connected to a plunger (18) slidably arranged within the extrusion chamber (20) and located downstream of said polymer feed-in passage (17), said plunger (18) keeping the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) aligned with the extrusion chamber (20) and arranged according to said predetermined pattern while pulling the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) along the extrusion chamber (20) at the start of an extrusion operation, said plunger being then eliminated by cutting a former end of the continuous core precursor (10).

14. The method according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the continuous core precursor (10) is cooled by means of a cooling device (13) outside the extrusion chamber (20) before cutting.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein continuous core precursor (10) is pooled by a pooling device (15) located downstream of the cooling device (13) before cutting.

16. The method according to any of claims 11 to 15, wherein each of the continuous ferromagnetic wires (4) is pushed by a pushing device (19) located upstream of the wire feed-in plate (8).

Drawing